The Pacific Front Holding the Line Against Japan

1. The Pacific Front • Holding the Line Against Japan • After Pearl Harbor the commander of the US Navy in the Pacific Admiral Chester Nimitz (from Texas) began planning operations against the Japanese. Nimitz was determined to use the aircraft carriers which had not been at Pearl during the attack • The Fall of the Philippines • within hours of attacking Pearl Harbor the Japanese attacked the Philippines were the Filipino and American defenders were badly outnumbered • General Douglas MacArthur decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula where the rugged terrain allowed them to hold-out against the Japanese for more than three months • a lack of supplies and disease took their toll on the troops and MacArthur was ordered to evacuate to Australia to prevent his capture • the 78.000 exhausted defenders of Bataan surrendered in April and were then forced to march 65 miles to a Japanese prison camp • thousands died on what became known as the Bataan Death March • a smaller force held out on the island of Corregidor, but were finally forced to surrender on May 1942, signaling the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese • Why did MacArthur retreat to Bataan? • Why were the Americans forced to surrender? • What was the Bataan Death March? • When did the Philippines fall to Japan?

3. The Doolittle Raid • Roosevelt was looking for a way to boost American morale following the attack on Pearl Harbor • he wanted to bomb Tokyo, but aircraft carriers with their short range bombers could not get close enough to Tokyo because of Japanese ships in the north Pacific • a military planner suggested launching long range B-25s from the carriers which could reach Tokyo, but would not be able to land on the carriers due to the short deck; they would have to land in China after making their bombing run • Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle commanded the mission of sixteen bombers and on 18 April 1942 American bombs fell of Tokyo (71 of 80 crewmembers survived the mission and crash landing in China –ran out of fuel) • What was the goal of Doolittle’s raid? • What challenge to Doolittle’s raiders face? • What was the effect?

4. A Change in Japanese Strategy • Doolittle’s raid shocked Tokyo which then changed their strategy • Admiral Yamamoto wanted to attack Midway Island which was the last American base in the North Pacific west of Hawaii • Yamamoto believed attacking Midway would lure the American fleet into battle enabling his fleet to destroy it • After Doolittle’s raid the Japanese leadership agreed the American navy had to be destroyed to protect Tokyo from bombing • three aircraft carriers were ordered to attack New Guinea to cut American supply lines to Australia and the rest were ordered to prepare an assault on Midway • How did the Japanese change their strategy? • Why did Yamamoto target Midway? • What effect did Doolittle’s raid have?

5. The Battle of the Coral Sea • the Japanese believed they could launch two different attacks, thinking the US was unaware of their movements and would not be able to respond in time • however, American code breakers in Hawaii had broken the Japanese naval codes and were aware of the impending attack on New Guinea • Nimitz sent the carriers Yorktown and Lexington to intercept the Japanese at Coral Sea • carriers from both sides launched airstrikes against each other (new method of naval warfare) and the Japanese were forced to call off their landing in New Guinea • American supply lines to Australia remained open • this battle was a draw as both sides retired without a clear victor; this battle halted any further southern expansion by the Japanese • How were the Americans aware of the • impending attacks? • 2. How was the Battle of Coral Sea fought? • 3. Who won the battle? • 4. What was the effect?

6. The Battle of Midway • Admiral Nimitz had been waiting for an opportunity to ambush the Japanese which was provided at Midway • Nimitz ordered his carriers to take up positions near Midway and when the Japanese launched their aircraft they ran into a maelstrom of anti-aircraft fire • As the Japanese prepared to launch their second wave, the US carriers Hornet, Yorktown and Enterprise counterattacked catching the Japanese carriers with fuel, bombs and aircraft exposed on the flight deck • within minutes three carriers were reduced to burning wrecks and a fourth sunk hours later • the Americans had dealt a deadly blow (Japan did not have the resources to replace these lost ships) and Yamamoto ordered the remaining ships to retreat • the Battle of Midway was a turning point in the Pacific theater stopping the Japanese advance, costing 362 Americans lives and 3.057 Japanese • How did Nimitz target Japanese fighter pilots? • What happened to the Japanese carriers? • How was this battle a death blow to Japan? • How was this battle a turning point in the Pacific theater?

7. 5. How do you think Midway got its name?

8. Driving the Japanese Back • While the Americans were preparing to invade Europe, they were also preparing to defeat Japan with a two-pronged attack. Admiral Nimitz with the Pacific Fleet would advance through the central Pacific hopping from one island to the next while General MacArthur’s troops would advance through the Solomon Islands and New Guinea before retaking the Philippines • Island-Hopping in the Pacific • island-hopping was a challenge because many of the islands in the central Pacific were coral reef atolls which were shallow, requiring troops to wade to the beach • Tarawa, part of the Gilbert Islands, the Navy’s first objective, was an atoll where at least 20 ships ran aground, marines had to wade through shoulder-high water several hundred yards to the beach – 1 in 3 made it to the beach through Japanese fire • after making it to the beach the marines faced fierce hand-to-hand combat. over 1.000 died taking Tarawa and the pictures shocked Americans back home • one machine proved able to get to the beach, the LVT or a boat with tank tracks, (amphibious tractor) amphtrac had been developed to rescue people in Florida swamps • the assault on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands went better as everyone went ashore on amphtracs and the marines captured Kwajalein and neighboring Eniwetok with fewer casualties • After the Marshall Islands were the Mariana Islands, desired as a base for the B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers which could bomb Japan • despite strong resistance, American troops captured the three desired islands , Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, by August 1944 • Within months B-29 bombers were bombing Japan • What was the two-pronged attack plan? • What geographic challenge was faced in the Pacific, such as at Tarawa? • What was the amphtrac able to do? • Why were the Marianas desirable?

9. MacArthur Returns to the Philippines • General MacArthur’s troops began their campaign with the invasion of Guadalcanal in August 1942 • The conquest of Guadalcanal took six months and cost thousands of Japanese lives • The conquest of the other Solomon Islands took until early 1944 • MacArthur ordered his forces to leap 600 miles to capture the Japanese base at Hollandia on the north coast of New Guinea, then seized Morotai the last stop before the Philippines • The US assembled an enormous invasion force to seize the Philippines with more than 700 ships carrying over 160.000 troops targeting Leyte Gulf on the eastern side of the Philippines • On 20 October 1944 troops landed at Leyte with MacArthur proclaiming his return over a microphone • The Japanese sent four aircraft carriers toward the Philippines from the north, and secretly sent another fleet from the west • The American carriers moved north from Leyte Gulf to block what they though was the main attack while Japanese warships raced to a lightly protected Leyte Gulf and ambushed the remaining ships • The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in history and the first time the Japanese used kamikaze attacks (meaning “divine wind,” pilots would deliberately crash their planes into American ships to inflict severe damage) • Fortunately for the Americans just as they were reaching desperation , Japanese commanders, believing more American ships were on their way, ordered a retreat • The campaign to recapture the Philippines resulted in 80.000 Japanese deaths, the battle for the capital city of Manila cost 100.000 Filipino civilians their lives, and complete conquest did not occur until the Japanese surrendered in August 1945 (the last Japanese soldier in the Philippines finally was relieved of duty – he did not surrender – in 1974) • What island was MacArthur’s first conquest? • When did MacArthur return to Japan/ • What is significant about the Battle of Leyte Gulf? • What were kamikaze pilots? • What was the cost of reconquering the Philippines?

10. Japan Is Defeated • Unfortunately President Roosevelt died on 12 April without seeing the defeat of Germany. Vice President Harry S Truman became president and despite feeling overwhelmed, began making decisions about the war. Although Germany had surrenders, the war with Japan continued to intensify and Truman was forced to make some of the most difficult decisions of the war. • Uncommon Valor on Iwo Jima • On 24 November 1944 bombs fell on Tokyo from B-29 Superfortress bombers for the first time since Doolittle’s raid in 1942, flown in from American bases over 1.500 miles away in the Mariana Islands • The bombing did little damage because the bombers did not have enough fuel to compensate for navigational errors or high winds – the US needed a base closer to Japan to refuel • Military planners decided Iwo Jima, half way between the Marianas and Japan would solve the problem despite its rugged terrain, rocky cliffs, jagged ravines, caves, and dormant volcano • The Japanese had reinforced the island with miles of cave, concrete bunkers and tunnels • In Feb 1945 60.000 US Marines landed on Iwo Jima, pounded by Japanese artillery, crawling inland inch by inch using flamethrowers and explosives to attack Japanese bunkers • The island was captured after more than 6.800 marines were killed • Why didn’t the B-29 Superfortress bombing raids impact Japan? • Why was Iwo Jima a desirable place? • How had Japan “dug in” to the island? • How did the marines defeat the Japanese?

11. 5. Why do you think this is one of the most famous photographs of World War II?

12. Firebombing Devastates Japan • While the engineers built airfields on Iwo Jima General Curtis LeMay, commander of the B-29s, changed strategies and filled bombs with napalm – jellied gasoline – to explode and start fires that would spread to intended targets • Firebombing was very controversial because the fires would kill, but LeMay could think of not other way to destroy Japan’s war production quickly • firebombs dropped on Tokyo 9 Mar 1945 were fanned by flames creating a firestorm so intense thousands died of asphyxiation • over 80.000 died in the Tokyo firebombing and more than 250.000 buildings were destroyed • by the end of June 1945 Japan’s six most important industrial cities had been firebombed destroying almost half their urban area • What were firebombs? • Why did LeMay use them? • How could people die from firebombing? • What was the effect of firebombing?

13. 5. In these pictures of Tokyo from March 1945, what do you think happened to the buildings and people?

14. The Invasion of Okinawa • Many American officials believed the Japanese would not surrender until Japan had been invaded • To prepare for the for the invasion the US needed a base to stockpile supplies and troops, and Iwo Jima was too small and far away • Military planner chose Okinawa only 350 miles from Japan • American troops landed on 1 Apr 1945 while Japanese troops took up positions in the mountains in caves and bunkers • The Americans had to fight their way up steep slopes against constant machine gun and artillery fire • More than 12.000 Americans died, but by 22 June the island had been captured • Why was Okinawa needed? • What was the American cost for gaining the island?

15. The Terms for Surrender • After Okinawa the Japanese emperor urged his government to find a way to end the war, but the Americans were demanding an unconditional surrender and many Japanese were willingly to surrender but with one condition, the emperor stay in power • American officials knew the fate of the emperor was the most important issue for the Japanese, but most Americans blamed the emperor for the war and wanted him out of power • Truman was reluctant to go against public opinion and he knew the US was almost ready to test a new weapon that might force Japan to surrender without any conditions – the atomic bomb • Who in Japan wanted to surrender? • What demands were the Americans making and what did the Japanese want? • Why did the Americans want the emperor removed? • Why was Truman unwilling to compromise?

16. The Manhattan Project • In 1939 the world’s top physicist Leo Szilard learned the Germans had split the uranium atom and he worried the Nazis were working on an atomic bomb (Szilard had been the first to suggest that splitting an atom might release enormous energy) • Szilard convinced the better known Albert Einstein to sign a letter to President Roosevelt warning about the possible weapon being developed from atomic energy • Roosevelt established a committee to study the issue and after meeting with British scientists already working on an atomic bomb, Roosevelt was convinced to begin a program to build an atomic bomb • The American program to build an atomic bomb, code named Manhattan Project and headed by General Leslie R Groves, achieved a major breakthrough when Szilard and Enrico Fermi built the world’s first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago • Groves organized a team of engineers and scientists to build an atomic bomb at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico with J Robert Oppenheimer leading the team • The world’s first atomic bomb was detonated in Alamogordo New Mexico on 16 July 1945 • What does splitting an atom do? • Who first suggested this? • Who was already working on an atomic bomb? • Where was the laboratory? • When was the first atomic bomb detonated?

17. The Decision to Drop the Bomb • American officials debated how to use the atomic bomb, even before it was tested • Admiral William Leahy, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately, and he believed an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender • Secretary of War Henry Stimson wanted to warn the Japanese, while at the same time telling them they could keep the emperor if they surrendered • Secretary of State James Byrnes wanted to drop the bomb without any warning to shock Japan into surrendering • President Truman later wrote he never had any doubts about using the bomb as his advisers had warned him to expect massive casualties if the US invaded Japan and Truman believed it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives • The Allies threatened Japan with “utter destruction” if they did not surrender, but the Japanese did not reply so Truman ordered the military to drop the bomb • On 6 August 1945 a B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb called Little Boy on the industrial city of Hiroshima • Heat, radiation and an enormous shock wave slammed into Hiroshima destroying 76.000 buildings, killing 80.000-120.000 instantly and thousands more later of burns and radiation sickness • The bombing stunned Japan • Three days later the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, exactly three months after Germany surrendered and per their agreement with the US • Also on 9 August the US dropped another atomic bomb, Fat Man on Nagasaki, killing 35.000-74.000 people • Faced with such destruction and the Soviet entry into the war, the Japanese emperor ordered his government to surrender on 15 August 1945 – V-J Day • Americans on the other side of the world celebrated, the long war was finally over, and the US and its Allies had freed Europe from Nazi tyranny and ended Japanese aggression in Asia

18. What impact do you think this weapon had on US relations with other countries?

19. Decision to Drop the Bomb Questions • Why did Leahy oppose using the bomb? • Why did Truman decide to use the bomb? • What was the Enola Gay? • What was Fat Man and Little Boy? • How many died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? • Why did the Japanese surrender?

20. This picture is considered a classic. It was taken on VJ Day in New York City. What do you think it expresses about America at the time?